26 July 2012

The only danger in Friendship is that it will end. -- Henry David Thoreau

I never thought I'd lose my childhood best friend. The girl who I stood as her Maid of Honor in her wedding. The girl that climbed monkey bars with me and walked her dog when I walked my dog, down the street to hang out. The girl that swore we'd be in each others weddings no matter what.

One might ask, where is all this stemming from?

Two days ago, I was watching Joel Osteen on T.V. Now mind you, I don't usually watch preachers preach on TV, after all I do attend church every Sunday!

What caught me, was the quick little blurb that I heard him say. I then found myself sitting there for 30 min listening to his sermon.

#545, Give the Gift of Yourself

Sometimes life gets busy, and it’s easy to put off connecting with those we love or show appreciation to others because we “don’t have the time.”

In this message, Joel reminds us that James 4:14 says our life is like a vapor. Life is short, and we don’t know what tomorrow holds. That’s why we need to make the most of each day. If you will learn to give the best of yourself consistently, you will live life with no regrets.

* The above blurb is taken from His website

Here's the clip that totally caught me and really hit me hard.

http://www.joelosteen.com/Broadcast/Pages/ThisWeeksMessage.aspx

Sorry there is no direct video link you have to actually copy this link and go to his page to watch it. I highly recommend you do! It was very moving!

I feel saddened as I have hit 30, because so many of my "friends" have changed. I know I have changed too, but not in the sense of KEEPING IN TOUCH. I feel like people just get so self absorbed that they really don't care if they leave you hanging. Literally.

I mean I get it. life moves on.

People get married, parents retire, responsibilities at work increase, kids arrive, priorities change. They all demand time. Does this affect friendships? Yes and No. You still care. You still feel connected whenever you get talking, whenever you meet. But, you don’t meet often and you don’t get to talk often. Which is again okay.

It’s when you realize that you are the one who always calls, that it’s not okay. It’s when you realize that you are the one who always sends a IM, that it’s not okay. It’s when you start thinking before sending a IM, that it’s not okay. It probably means we have moved on. Does it?

I caved and wrote an email to my so called "best friend" letting her know how difficult it was even for me to confront her on how "one sided" our so called "best friendship" has/had become. I'm probably crazy for doing it 7 days before my wedding. No one needs drama before their big day right? I just had this gut feeling that I needed to tell her NOW or never.

Long story short, my "best friend" and I have really lost a lot of touch in the last year. For me, I felt a huge change the day AFTER she was married! Our "communication" became less and less. A few times I would just start off the opening sentence in an email to her stating, "Are you alive?" or, "I never hear from you." She lives back in IL, and I'm here in AZ. She recently had her first child in Nov, and since then, you could really say she has become non existent to me. I feel like I've done everything on my behalf to try to keep in touch!

The last time I was home (Last July) I drove 50 minutes in a borrowed car to get together for a quick dinner with her. The whole time we were there I could just "feel" like she was antsy to get on her "way". Feeling this way really hurts.

When is it time to let a "friendship go"? Was I right to throw in the towel right back at her? Using a phone or email is a two way street. I feel so sad about this. I never thought she'd NOT be there for me getting married.

I'm getting married in 10 Days! So pardon my absence friends my posting may be very light this week if any at all due to the closing of our first house, then moving 2 days before our wedding in Hawaii!

20 July 2012

I rarely read a book that moves me as much as this book did. Few can really understand the journey of abuse unless you've lived it or witnessed it first hand, but the journey of Emma makes readers a part of it. It is difficult to put something that dramatic into black and white, showing the emotional pull and internal conflict that is inherent within abusive situations, without making the character seem weak or masochistic. But Donovan depicts the story of a girl that suffers so that others won't, masterfully demonstrating the multifaceted decisions that Emma makes every day. It is NEVER just that simple.

The book is lengthy, allowing the story to really develop, rather than rushing the experience. Every moment is built into another, keeping the reader captivated while the story unrolls. It was refreshing to read a book that focused on true life, rather than fairytales and the supernatural, and still have it be just as riveting. Every piece of this book was the everyday experience of one teenage girl, and yet it was an epic journey.

I know that there is some controversy over the ending, but I honestly think that it would cheapen the experience of the journey to have it tied up in some pretty package at the end. Don't get me wrong, I am SO relieved that there will be a sequel, but the beautiful words of the epilogue literally took my breath away.

I am already into book #2 following this book.

If you've ever read "A Child Called IT" Then I highly recommend this book!

19 July 2012

No Doubt is back! in case you haven't heard their new tune, click the widget above to give it a listen! It's super catchy and I gotta admit, I really like their new song! They haven't changed their sound which I think is so important for this band--it's what makes them so unique! It's got ska/reggae/dancehall sound to which is classic no doubt.

18 July 2012

I am not one for keychains on my car key ring. In fact, all I heard growing up from my dad was how the weight of having tons of key chains on your key rings can ruin your ignition.

Whether that's something that just true for older cars or does in fact apply to new, I'm not sure. But it's something my dad stressed NOT to do.

Anyhow, back to the key rings.

Here's my current key ring:

growing up, I could NEVER find any personalized key chains that said "Cassie" so when I finally found one many years ago, it found a personal home on my keys! (The Cassandra one is from when I was home in Illinois last, decided to pick one up)

Now you really wanna know how much I hate clutter and junk on keys? I have a whole separate key ring for those annoying plastic cards that stores make you have to get their discounts and such.

Yep that's right a whole different ring for them!

I keep these separate for another reason too. Safety. Personally, it's not very safe or smart to have your "life" on your keys. If you ever lose them, you lose, well everything obviously!

You probably guessed it, my school keys are in fact on a completely separate key ring as well! (whistle in tow too! haha)

3. Rhett was not allowed to say the word “miscarriage” on film and so the line was changed to use the word “accident” right before Scarlett tumbles down the stairs.

5. During filming, Clark Gable caused a scandal when he eloped with Carole Lombard during a two day break. They married in Kingman, Arizona with Gable's agent hosting the “reception” in his car where the bride and groom had sandwiches and coffee.

Clark Gable disliked his participation in Gone With The Wind, which he considered “a woman's picture”.

7. All seven of the existing Technicolor cameras were used to film the fire. Flames leapt over 500 feet in height and covered 40 acres. It tooks over 15,000 gallons of water to douse the flames.

8. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to be nominated for, and win, an Academy Award. It was also the first time an African-American attended the awards as a guest.

9. None of the interior sets had ceilings and a majority of the upper portions of exterior sets were optically modified with matte paintings to save on cost.

10. The wounded solider in the makeshift Atlanta hospital that talks about his brother Jeff would go on to voice Jiminy Cricket.

11. The final cut of the movie was over 20,000 feet; edited down from over half a million.

12. Melanie's blue dress had the hoops removed and was only shot from the waist up since aspect ratio of the time couldn't accomadate two dresses built with hoops in the same shot

13. None of the African American cast were allowed to attend the movie's premiere.

14. During Melanie's birth scene, the director sat off camera and occassionally pinched her toes to make Olivia feel pain.

15. Most of the principle cast disliked the characters they played. Leslie Howard thought he was too old to play Ashley, Rand Brooks detested being Scarlett's wimpy first husband Charles Hamilton and Butterfly McQueen disapproved of the negative stereotype of Prissy.

16. To heighten publicity during casting, fans were asked to vote on which actress should play Scarlett. British born Leigh only received one vote.

17. Trying to make Scarlett's character more to the taste of Clark Gable, director Victor Fleming had Vivien Leigh's breasts taped together for the illusion of cleavage while wearing the famous red dress.

18. Clark Gable almost quit over the fact that the script called for Rhett to cry on film.

19. Clark Gable worked a total of 71 days and received over $120,000. In contrast, Vivien Leigh worked 125 days but only received $25,000.

20. Barbara O'Neil played Scarlett's mother. The actress was only 28; Vivien Leigh was 25.

21. Another scandal was that Vivien Leigh arrived on set from England with her lover…Laurence Olivier. Both had left their respective spouses and children and were engaged in an illicit affair.

22. Cigarettes were not considered dangerous at the time, and Vivien Leigh was known to go through 4 packs a day during filming.

23. The horse used by Scarlett to escape the Atlanta Depot was supposed to be a nag, but weighed too much in order to see its ribs. The make-up department ended up painting dark shadows on its ribs to give the appearance of starvation.

24. After the original director, George Cukor, was fired for being “a women's director” (gay), Leigh had to fight with his replacement Victor Fleming to keep her vision of O'Hara. Fleming wanted her portrayed as a complete bitch with no nuance or insight into her motivations.

25. On the original poster, the leads were listed as such: Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havillan, and “presenting” Vivien Leigh. The order was changed when Leigh won the Oscar.

And there you have it friends! Say, learn anything about this classic film that you never knew till today?